WMC FBomb
Will Girls Really Rise?
I recently watched the documentary film "Girl Rising" with my high school (of about 80 students) and subsequently helped to lead a forum to discuss it. The movie artistically illustrates the stories o...
WMC FBomb
The Indomitable Female Fortress: Queen Elizabeth I
When I think of Elizabeth I, Queen of England from 1558 to 1603, I think of a beguiling and Machiavellian woman who, against all odds, led her country to a golden age while battling against the acute ...
WMC FBomb
Saturday Vids: Pretty Little Liars "Food Horror"
Graham Kolbeins recently created this mashup of PLL scenes displaying the characters' food issues on his blog Future Shipwreck. He says:
In 'Food Horror,' I set out to examine the many moments in "Pre...
WMC FBomb
On Having Big Boobs: My Anatomy Has Nothing To Do With My Morality
As a kid, I was taught to believe many restricting things about my body, but one stuck with me more than others: the bigger your boobs, the better -- but they better be covered. I accepted that. Then,...
WMC FBomb
What If I AM Like The Feminist Stereotype?
Am I giving feminism a bad rap by not shaving my armpits? I worry that people will take one look at my pits, label me as “one of those feminists” (the only kind they think exists), and dismiss what I ...
WMC FBomb
Tomboy Exceptionalism: “I’m Not Like The Other Girls”
I grew up a tomboy. That meant no dresses, no dolls, and even biting my kindergarten boyfriend who dared to give me a party favour bag at his birthday that was princess themed. It meant playing in the...
WMC FBomb
Female Stereotypes on Glee
Glee gets a lot of crap for the way they portray their female characters. They are mostly vain, obsessed with themselves, or are solely focused on their love interests. Since it's probably way too muc...
WMC FBomb
A Letter To My Future Son
A friend of mine has a young son. She recently asked me, and other men, to write a letter to our sons who exist or have yet to be born that she could show to her own child, someday. This is my letter....
WMC FBomb
Barbie
Let me ask you this:
What do we teach our daughters
When the bestselling doll on the market, Barbie,
Has a made-up face and mascara-ed eyes and lips as pink as grapefruit,
But not enough ambition or i...
WMC FBomb
On Fat-Shaming
I thought I would stop being defined by my weight after middle school. When it kept happening, I thought, Okay, maybe after high school people will leave me alone. Again, I haven't been so lucky and s...
WMC FBomb
Why The New Dove Real Beauty Campaign Video Is Less Than Perfect
I (reluctantly) admit it: I am one of the many women who teared up watching the new Dove Real Beauty campaign’s “Beauty Sketches” video:
As a 20-year-old college student who, like many (most? All?)...
WMC FBomb
Saturday Vids: Reversing Gender Roles in Ads
I recently got an email from Dylan Lambi-Raine, who wrote: "I'm a feminista, Genders Studies and Social Work student. I live in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and am interested in sharing a video that a grou...
WMC FBomb
The Straight and the Narrow
Sometimes I look at the pieces of my chemically-straightened hair that are scattered around my bathroom floor, and I wonder what it would be like if things were different. What if relaxers were never ...
WMC FBomb
The Story of the Creepy Freshman
Last night I attended the Spring Dance at my (catholic, all-girls) school. I went with a guy named Enrique Iglesias.* He is a very nice guy, and by that I mean he knows how to effectively interact wit...
WMC FBomb
April 02, 2013 | Chelsea L |
Body image and body standards,
Feminism,
International,
Media,
Religion
On Witnessing Beautiful, Real Bodies
I recently spent two weeks traveling with a group in Morocco and was fortunate enough to have the experience of going to a hammam. A hammam is a type of spa where women and men (separately) go once a ...
WMC FBomb
Pink Or Blue: It's Up To You
“It’s a boy.” My soon-to-be father beamed.
“How do you know?” My young, twenty-two year old mother asked, rubbing her growing belly.
“I just know,” he stated so full of confidence in his twenty-thre...
WMC Women Under Siege
Women’s bodies: Cause of ‘epidemics and disasters’?
Her name is Amina. She is a teenage girl. A man in her country, Tunisia, thinks stones should be thrown at her until she dies because she posted a photo of herself on a website. Because she is a woman. Because she had the audacity to make a comment about her own body, and to photograph her body, and to use it to share her ideas with others.
WMC Women Under Siege
Poynter: CNN’s Steubenville coverage called too sympathetic to teens found guilty
Journalists took to Twitter Sunday to criticize the the media’s coverage of the two teenage boys who were found guilty in the Steubenville, Ohio, rape case. Lauren Wolfe, Xeni Jardin and others called out CNN’s Poppy Harlow and Paul Callan for sympathizing with the men and highlighting that the woman who was raped was “allegedly drunk.”
WMC FBomb
I Don't Know How I Feel About My Body
I was getting ready for my birthday dinner. I was wearing my new favorite dress, with a sort of waffle-velvet thing going on, which was sleeveless and beautiful. As I put on my tiara (because, you kno...
WMC Women Under Siege
Gloria Steinem challenges BBC presenter on violence against women
On Tuesday, Gloria Steinem, who originated WMC’s Women Under Siege, spoke to BBC “Hardtalk” presenter Stephen Sackur about the women’s movement. But I wanted to do more than point you to the video (which you can watch here) and highlight something I found particularly interesting about their chat.
WMC FBomb
Saturday Vids: End The Silence - National Eating Disorder Awareness Week
In honor of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, here's one young woman's message about having an eating disorder. To learn more, visit the NEDA website.
...
WMC FBomb
Defeating the Enemy: Me
About three days out of every week I have what I like to call “ugly days.” These are days where I feel like I look like crap and nothing I do can change it. This puts me in a terrible mood, and it mak...
WMC Women Under Siege
Covering rape responsibly
In the light of the recent coverage of the rapes in India, it’s time to talk about how we cover rape in this country. For some 20 years now, I have been criticizing the press for never asking why men rape. Now, with the rapes in New Delhi gaining so much attention, I ask it again.
WMC FBomb
Your Happiness Is Not A Competition
Most of us tend to compare ourselves to others and then determine our self worth depending on how we measure up. This habit of comparing and competing might be addictive, but it can also be very harmf...
WMC FBomb
Israel's "Photoshop Law"
As of January 1, what the media has dubbed the “Photoshop Law” has gone into effect in Israel. This law mandates that models working in Israel have to have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of at least 18.5, th...